


The Asset and The Widow

by Introvertatheart



Series: The Asset's New Life [41]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: M/M, Mother's Day, Mother-Son Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:07:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24118486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Introvertatheart/pseuds/Introvertatheart
Summary: Mother's day is here and Steve wants to celebrate his mom and Bucky's mom. But he couldn't leave out a certain Widow on Mother's day.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: The Asset's New Life [41]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1343575
Comments: 7
Kudos: 36





	The Asset and The Widow

Steve loved Mother's day, it was one of his favorite days since it actually mattered. Every year, Steve bought his mother's favorite flowers and sat next to her grave and talked to her. This year would be a little different. Bucky's been to Sarah's grave before but this time they would be looking for his mother too, Winnifred Barnes. It would take a little travelling, but it was going to be worth it.

"Bucky? Are you up?" Steve lightly knocked on the door. He opened the bedroom door, Bucky was still asleep. Nap time was going an hour over, Steve didn't know why he was sleeping so much but Steve also got in a well needed nap. Steve sat next to him and rubbed his shoulder. Bucky groaned and moved away from him.

"Come on, you've been asleep for two hours." Bucky wasn't budging instead he moved his blanket over his head. "We're going somewhere special." Usually that would motivate him a little, but nothing. So Steve continuously poked at his cheek. Bucky groaned then moved towards the edge, unfortunately falling to the floor.

"Owie."

"Are you okay, bud?" Steve was trying not to laugh but it was a little funny.

"Okay." Steve removed the blanket from his head, Bucky squinted his eyes at him.

"Are you pouting?" Bucky shook his head then yawned. Then he petted Harley. "Hey, we have somewhere special to go, so we need to start moving." Bucky got up and followed Steve to the bathroom. They got cleaned up and had a snack. Steve packed Bucky's bag and made sure he packed extra clothes. It would seem that Bucky was going through the 'playing in the dirt' phase. He broke one of Steve's pots and Steve found him eating dirt. It scared Steve to death so he immediately called Bruce. Bruce assured him that it was almost a right of passage for kids to eat dirt, so Bucky was fine as long as it was in small amounts and it didn't happen constantly. If it was constant, then it was another medical issue that needs to be addressed.

Luckily, it was just the one time and hopefully the last.

After Steve packed everything and got Bucky's shoes on. Steve looked at Bucky's harness, they were working on following without the harness constantly. Bucky was doing okay with a few mishaps. So far, Steve had him hold his hand wherever they went. But Bucky would hit or bite on Steve's arm whenever he wanted to wonder around, Steve knew he would have to take a few hits in order for Bucky to start understanding he had to stay close. It was a work in progress and that was okay. They went downstairs and got in the car then left. 

Their first stop was the floral shop. Bucky looked around, he thinks he's been here before, he just doesn't remember.

"Good afternoon." Greeted a clerk lady.

"Hello, may I get four dozen lilies?"

"Of course, it'll be a minute we have a lot of orders."

"That's fine, we'll walk around."

"Okay, give us ten minutes." Steve paid for the flowers then noticed someone was missing.

"Bucky? Did you see where the guy next to me went?"

"I think I saw him going over to soil section."

"Oh no." Steve quickly went to soil section, Bucky was sitting on the ground staring at one particular flower.

"Bucky, what did I tell you about walking off?"

"Bug." He pointed to a red ladybug crawling on a flower. 

"Okay, let's go walk around for a bit." Bucky shook his head and continued to stared at the ladybug. Steve sighed then looked at Harley, who didn't seem to care about the little bug at all. Looks like they were going to be spending the next ten minutes staring at a ladybug.

They, fortunately, did not spend the whole ten minutes staring at the ladybug. After two minutes, the ladybug flew away. Bucky wasn't sure what to do then so they walked around the block a few times. 

Then the flowers were ready. Steve said thank you and they made their way to Brooklyn. 

Bucky fell asleep on the way to the cemetery, but when he woke up Steve was carrying him.

"Going?"

"To see my mom." They reached the grave. Bucky tilted his head, he has been here before.

"Today is Mother's day, pal. So we're going to talk to my mom for a while then we'll go see your mom."

"Mommy?"

"Real mom." Bucky tilted his head again. What did that mean? Steve sat him down then sat down next to him.

"Hey mom, it's me but I guess you already knew that. Bucky's here too. Say hi."

"Hi."

"Happy mother's day, ma. I miss you so much and there's so much I want to tell you. Gosh, where do I start?" Steve started with Bucky going to school until now. Then he spoke of his growing anxiety.

"I wonder if you had the same anxiety as I did raising me. Especially with me all sick and everything. You and dad must have been so worried that you would be saying goodbye earlier than what you wanted." Steve felt the lump in his throat grow, he took deep breathes trying to not cry but this was never easy. Then a flesh hand slid into his.

"It's okay." Steve must've missed when he hit his head. But Bucky was here.

"Thanks Buck. Let's go see your mom." They said goodbye to Sarah and Joseph then started to walk. Steve did intense research a few days ago about where Bucky's family was buried. He found out that were actually in the same cemetery as Sarah and Joseph just a little further away. After a few minutes, they arrived to the graves. Winnifred Barnes and George Barnes. Just to Winnifred's right was the graves of Bucky's siblings. 

"Can you lay those right there?" Steve gave the flowers to Bucky. He carefully put them in front of her grave. Bucky was staring at her grave too intently. Something was confusing or too overwhelming. 

"Bucky, talk to me."

"Mommy? Ma?" Bucky reached out and touched her grave.

"She's your real ma. You okay?"

"Sorry. Sorry." Bucky started to hit his head and pull at his hair.

"Okay, maybe this was too much." Steve held his arms. Bucky was showing signs of a meltdown, Steve wasn't emotionally ready for a meltdown. "Deep breaths, bud. Maybe we should go." Bucky shook his head then laid down next to his mother's grave. 

"Buck?"

"Sorry, ma." Steve wasn't sure why he was apologizing but his heart was breaking a little when he saw Bucky crying. But all he could was rub Bucky's head and tell him she still loves him more than anything.

After an hour, Bucky calmed down enough to move around. He said goodbye to his parents then Steve carried him to the car. Steve held him while he calmed down a little more. Bucky still felt too tense and any little thing would send him into a tantrum or even a meltdown. So they sat in the backseat and took relaxing breathes. Harley laid her body against Steve's, he was happy to have her here.

"Hey I'm really proud of you today. You did really did good."

"Good." Bucky repeated.

"That's right. Now I know you don't understand but how about we go celebrate your other mommy?"

"Mommy?"

"Yeah, we can go to the store and get her some special things. Mommy doesn't really like flowers. Is that okay?" Bucky nodded. Steve smiled and got him in his seat, he was still a little more quite than usual but he was a bit more aware now.

When they arrived at the store, there was a little more people here than normal but it was okay. Steve knew Nat liked chocolates more than flowers so he got her two chocolate boxes.

"Mine?"

"Mommy's. But maybe she'll give you a few pieces. Let's go get her a teddy bear." They found a teddy bear that wasn't quite life size but it wasn't hand size either. Steve had Bucky hold the teddy bear to the checkout. He didn't notice the cashier scan the bear. He held onto the bear in the car and during the whole ride home.

When they arrived, Steve asked Jarvis where Nat was and he responded with in the main room. They arrived in the main area, Nat was the kitchen when she spotted them.

"Hey, what's all that for?" She asked.

"Happy Mother's Day." Steve said giving her chocolates.

"Mommy day." Bucky repeated behind the bear.

"Hey, sweet boy. Thank you so much, this is so sweet." Nat took the bear from him and kissed his cheeks. She set the bear down and sat on the couch with Bucky. Bucky laid his head on her lap while she slowly rubbed his head.

"You're going to make him sleepy." Said Steve sitting beside her.

"You should be thanking me then. Besides I really miss doing this with him."

"Just snuggling him?"

"Yeah, we never spend that much time together anymore. I'm always on missions and he's recovering. It's nice to have a little time with him."

"If you want to spend the day with him, you can. I'm sure he'll want to."

"I'm sure he would, but I can't. Time isn't something on my side anymore." Steve knew what she meant. She never stayed in the tower for anymore than a few hours, maybe a day at the most. 

"So this is the most mother-son time you will ever get?"

"Pretty much. But I'll never have children, so he fills that empty space pretty well." Nat rubbed his ear, Bucky slowly started to relax a little causing him to fall asleep. It wasn't a deep sleep, but it was a much needed rest after a morning like today.

"How did you meet him, if you don't mind me asking? I know you said he was looking for someone else, but how did he become so attached to you?"

"I don't mind, Steve. I guess it's best if I start from the beginning."

**Flashback**

Natalia stared at herself in the mirror. She killed someone today, blood was on her hands even though she shot the person. Tomorrow would be the final decision, there was one more test the final participants had to accomplish to make it to graduation. She was one of the top agents in the class. Madame B. told her that she would never fail in what she will do for the world even though she had no place. Even if she tried to fail, she couldn't.

Despite being one of the best, she felt empty. She knew what happen during graduation. While she understood why it was done, there was a part of her that knew once it was done, she couldn't have children. Ever. It was every girl's dream to have children, but soon it wouldn't even be a thought.

Could she escape and save herself? She could but she had nothing in the world.

She had no place in the world.

The next day was final testing day. There was only four of them. Based on what Natalia heard, they were trying something new for the first time. None of the finalist knew what was going, there was no way to prepare themselves. 

When they were called for the session, they stood in a straight line, backs leveled, arms crossed behind the back. 

"Ladies, we are going to try something new. We have a visitor here who will be a deciding factor in determining our graduates. We do not expect you match his level, but we need to be sure you can stand up to someone close to his level." Said Madame B. Three men came in. The one in the middle caught everyone's attention. Dark brown, shaggy hair was to his shoulder complemented his strong bone structure in his face. He was tall, muscled but everyone noticed his arm. His left arm was completely metal.

"This is the Winter Soldier. Hydra's most effective weapon and our inspiration." Everyone stared at the man in all black. The only part they noticed was his arm, Natalia noticed his eyes. Lifeless, pained. Something told her whoever this was, wasn't trained like they were. 

"We will begin now, the soldier will not be here for long." Stated Madame B., she pointed to a girl to her right to go first. A man on the soldier's right whispered to him. The soldier stood up a bit straighter and watched the girl. They stood in front of each other, both focused.

"Begin." At that very moment, Natalia knew the soldier was too much for the girl to handle. He was moving too lightly and too fast. She couldn't keep up with him, the soldier spun around her then put her in a chokehold. Natalia frowned, the whole fight was less than five minutes. The soldier barely broke a sweat.

"Release." Said the soldier's handler. The soldier let her go then went to stand back next to his handlers.

"That was best you have to offer? This thing is barely breathing hard and it was holding back." The man with salt and pepper hair stated.

"That was sloppy. She will be put through further training." The girl walked away. Madame B. pointed to the next girl. The fight began instantly, the soldier wasn't breaking a sweat. He wasn't using his left arm as much as she thought he would. The girl failed. Natalia took this time to observe the soldier, but as much as she thought she had his moves planned out; he changed it. The sudden change caused the girl before Natalia to fail.

"Natalia, it is your turn." She nodded. As confident as she looked, she was nervous. This guy wasn't like anything she has ever face before. Up close to him, she saw his eyes were a light ocean blue but yet they were so lifeless. He was their puppet, she was the KGB's puppet. 

"Begin." Natalia did her best to catch up to the soldier but he was fast. He took every opportunity when she misstepped to grip her arm. Then she saw an opportunity, she took a step to the right then quickly moved to the left. The soldier saw this but just a second too late. Natalia punched his face. The soldier froze for a second.

"Finish." Said Madame B. satisfied.

"Soldat, here." The handler called. The soldier walked to him but he wouldn't stop staring at her.

"Well done, Natalia."

"A punch to the face and it's sweating a bit. Lucky girl. Let's go, soldat." They left. Natalia stared at the soldier as he left, why was she hoping he would come back?

"Natalia, you've done well."

"Thank you."

"You may proceed with the graduation." Two doctors suddenly came up to her and laid her on the gurney. It was time. She could never go back. Going through the double doors, all she could think about was the soldier.

She was woken up by hearing scraping against the door frame. At first, she thought it was a mouse but the sound of footsteps quickly eliminated that idea. Maybe it was the head master. Natalia sat up then immediately felt an ache in her abdomen. It was complete. She had graduated. She was sterile. 

She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard the scraping again but this time she heard the footprints stop in front of the door. Then Natalia realized that it wasn't Madame B. The footsteps sounded barefoot, Madame B. was never barefoot and none of the other girls were allowed out their rooms past a certain time. Then the door knob turned, the door was pushed open a little.

She pulled a gun from under her table. The door opened revealing the soldier. "You again? Why are you here?" He didn't speak, but he was crying. He looked in the room, he was looking for something or someone. Natalia was still tense and also keeping an eye out on his metal arm.

"Do you want something?"

"Daddy."

"Uh, I don't know what you're talking about." The soldier wiped his eyes with his flesh arm. He laid on the floor and cried. Natalia was at a loss on what to do, this wasn't the same guy that she fought hours earlier. He seemed to be like a child missing his parents, he looked miserable.

"Hey, do you want to come sit up here?" The soldier looked at her then sat up but never got up. Natalia got up from her bed and got the soldier's hand and led him to her bed, the soldier instantly curled up on her lap and put his thumb in his mouth. This definitely wasn't the same guy. He was calmer, but shaking not from the cold but pure anxiety.

"Are you okay?" The soldier didn't respond, he looked up at the red-haired woman and made grabby hands at her hair. She still had her hair in a ponytail, she let it down. The soldier grabbed a piece but not too gently.

"Ouch, be gentle." The soldier took his hands away for a second then raised his flesh hand and played in the curls in her hair.

"How are you like this? You were ruthless earlier now you're like a little baby." Natalia started to scratch his scalp. The soldier sighed deeply causing him to close his eyes. Then she felt patches in his hair that felt scarred. She moved pieces of his hair out of the way and saw the scarring on his head. It almost looked like burns, but it was healing. 

"Are they hurting you?"

"Good boy." The soldier said. Natalia was slowing starting to realize that maybe the soldier wasn't someone who volunteered for something like this. This looked too much like brainwashing and forced compliance. It had her thinking for a while, this guy was a feared assassin. He was Hydra's greatest weapon and yet he showed no aggression. She started to rubbed his back then he started to growl. Natalia immediately put her hand back on his head, he instantly relaxed. That answered her questioned, he had been forced and beaten to do this. 

"Good boy?" Sky blue eyes stared up at her with so much innocence that she almost forgot who this man was.

"I don't know who you were before all this but I bet you were a good boy. You probably still are." Then she saw something that she thought she would never see, a smile. The winter soldier was capable of smiling. He was human, he had emotions. So she experiment and tickled his stomach. And he laughed.

"Shh. You're going to get us in trouble." She put a finger to her lips, the soldier mimicked her. The soldier laughed again and started to move around a bit then he nudged her abdomen. Natalia hissed in pain. The soldier tilted his head then pointed.

"Owie?"

"I can't have children. I can never be a mommy." The soldier tilted his head the other way.

"Mommy?" He pointed to her chest then to himself.

"You came in here looking for daddy? Now I'm your mommy?"

"Mommy." The soldier smiled again. Natalia smiled sadly, why was it ironic the same day she was sterilized, she gained a man-child? But for some reason it didn't bother her, she barely knew him and he barely knew her. And they were already so comfortable with each other.

"I'll be your mommy, I don't know how long this will last though. But you already helped fill a big hole in my heart." The soldier smiled again and played with her hair. He continued to play in her hair for almost fifteen minutes then he fell asleep on her lap. Natalia laid back on her pillow and sighed. Too many thoughts were running through her head. What was going to happen if someone found out about them? Was the soldier going to be looking for her every time he came around?

Natalia didn't want to worry about that now. She felt a little a relief that she at least had the opportunity to mother someone in her life.

"NATALIA!" Natalia was startled awake and so was the soldier. She rubbed her eyes and saw it was Madame B. and the soldier's handlers. "What are you doing with the soldier, young lady?"

"He came to me last night, I didn't know what to do with him." It was partially true, but nonetheless, Madame B., didn't seem to buy it.

"It doesn't usually sleep with someone unless they are using it for the night. Did you play with it?" The handler asked.

"No."

"This is highly unacceptable." Madame B. frowned.

"Don't be so hard on her, I'm sure the soldier wanted someone to play with. It likes that. Hope you didn't get too attached, sweetheart. Soldat, let's go." The soldier stared the handler then frowned.

"It's malfunctioning. Soldat, here now." The handler stepped closer to the soldier, the soldier growled at him.

"We don't have time for this." The handler grabbed the soldier by his hair and dragged him out of bed.

"MOMMY!" The soldier yelled. 

"Do you think your daddy will be happy with you acting this way?" The handler spatted in his face, grabbing another fistful of hair.

"Mommy." The soldier made grabbing hands to her, Natalia didn't know what to do. The soldier tried to get away from the handler then the handler shouted.

"Sputnik!" The soldier fell unconscious. Natalia was horrified. It took both of the handlers to drag the soldier out of the room.

"Where are they going with him?" Natalia asked.

"That is none of your concern. What were you doing with him?"

"He was looking for someone last night and he just found his way to me. I didn't know what to do."

"Oh, dearest Natalia please tell me you didn't do anything funny with him?"

"No."

If Madame B. was going do anything right now, it was taking a deep breath and sighing. "How are your sutures?"

"They are good."

"Excellent."

"Madame B., where is the soldier going?"

"Far away, he 's being relocated. He will not be back. Do clean yourself and this room by the time I get back, you know how much I hate sloppiness." Madame B. turned on her heel and walked away. Natalia frowned, she fixed the bed up to standard and looked in the mirror. She took a piece of her hair and played with it like the soldier did. She never figured out why the soldier was so obsessed with her hair but she was going to miss him.

In 2009, Natalia has turned into Natasha. Natasha was the Black Widow. She didn't like what she did but she didn't hate it. Rescuing government agents and political figures wasn't easy, killing their attackers wasn't hard. The only hard part about this was not being able to save everyone. Someone was killing world leaders and Natasha was always a step behind the killer but she could never find this person. Her latest mission was to protect a nuclear scientist, when someone shot out the tires of the car and sending them flying over the cliff. When she regained consciousness, she pulled herself and the scientist out of the car, then she saw someone dressed in all black walking towards. Natasha tried to get up, but she was still disorientated from the accident. The attacker stopped just in front of her, Natasha covered the scientist with her body. It didn't stop the attacker. He shot through her abdomen. He stared at her for a second then turned his back. Natasha hoped her vision wasn't lying to her but she swore she saw a hint of metal in the attacker's shoulder. Then the realization hit Natasha.

"You. It's you." She stumbled to stand up. The attacker stopped for a second and turned around. Natasha could never forget that shaggy hair or those beautiful blue eyes. He didn't even looked like he aged at all. "Soldier, it's mommy. Don't you remember?" The soldier just stared at her with no recollection of who she was. Natasha felt more pain in her heart than the actual gunshot wound. He didn't recognize her, something had changed. She had to help him. Natasha went back to the nuclear scientist; he was dead. When she turned back around to the soldier, he disappeared. 

Before she passed out, she said "I'm sorry."

In the coming weeks, Natasha did everything she could to find information on the soldier. But he was a ghost. He showed up, killed, then disappeared without a trace. Natasha was frustrated but never gave up. She gained little bits of information here and there, the soldier was someone with a name. At one point, she had to stop in order to help save New York from Loki. She met Steve Rogers then everything connected. She read a file saying that the soldier, whose real name was James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes; childhood bestfriends with Steve Rogers. He probably didn't know the situation about his friend, but if she could get Steve on board with helping finding the soldier. He would be safe from Hydra and be on a road to recovery.

She was never expecting to meet the soldier so soon, but after he almost killed her again on the highway. She almost gave up until after all the mess with the helicarriers when she learned the soldier was found and safe with Steve. Nothing in the world could have replaced the feeling in her heart when Bucky spotted her and called her mommy. He remembered her, even after all those years. He remembered her. 

**End of flashback**

By the time Natasha finished her story, Steve had tears in his eyes and Bucky was still asleep on her lap. Nat smiled and rubbed her eyes, they were also wet with tears. It didn't seem like an emotional story until she told it to him.

"Didn't mean to make you emotional, Rogers."

"I never realized you guys had that much history together and I'm suprised he trusted you so easily."

"I was too. He just wanted a gentle hand and he chose me. I'm glad he did, I guess he knew I needed to fill that void in my heart." She scratched Bucky's scalp which woke him up. The first thing he did was smile.

"Mommy."

"Hey, sweetheart. You look like you had a good sleep." Bucky raised his hand to her hair and started to fidget with it. "What did you guys do today?"

"We went to see my mom, then we went to see his parents."

"How did that go?"

"Not as I expected. I knew he was going to be confused but he was in a like near meltdown state then he laid down by his mom's grave and said sorry. I didn't know what happened."

"I can probably guess he feels like she doesn't love him anymore because of how he is or what he's done. Or is this guilt from not coming home? I know his family wanted that more than anything."

"Yeah, but he should know that his family would never hate him for anything. They love him."

"We all love you, sweet boy. But if I find one gray hair because of you, I'll hunt you down." Said Nat tickling Bucky's stomach. Bucky laughed then yawned. "Go to bed, silly boy. Thank you for my gift." Nat kissed his cheek. Steve helped Bucky stand up and they headed to the elevator.

"Bye mommy." Said Bucky.

"Bye." Nat waved bye to them as they left. She hugged the bear Bucky gave her, it would have to go in the room Stark gave her. But she didn't sleep in her room enough since she was always on the move.

Then she found herself smiling. She loved Bucky and the soldier with all her heart. Did she wish to meet him under different circumstances? Probably. Does she regret agreeing to being his maternal figure? No. At times, she did question herself if she was replacing Bucky's mom. She never wanted to replace Bucky's mom but it felt nice to mother something. Being an aunt to Clint's kids was fun and she enjoyed every moment she could get with them. But for some reason having someone look up at you with so much love and trust filled every wish she had about being a mother.

She now had a newfound appreciation for Mother's day.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Mother's day to all. This was hard to write.
> 
> PSA: In case anyone was wondering what Steve or anyone looks like. We're near the age of Ultron (special PSA coming up soon).
> 
> Also request are open :)


End file.
